The technocratic language hides a strategy of economic warfare against the democratic world
A Document That Demands to Be Read
China’s 15th Five-Year Plan will be formally adopted at the close of the National People’s Congress session in March 2026. Most international coverage will treat it as an economic document — a list of growth targets, investment priorities and infrastructure goals. That framing misses almost everything that matters. The plan is, at its core, a strategy for winning a systemic struggle against the United States and the free world. The language is technocratic. The intent is geopolitical.
Anti-Americanism as the Foundation of Chinese Policy
Charles Parton, Chief Adviser to the China Observatory at the Council on Geostrategy, argues that for the Chinese Communist Party, foreign policy drives domestic policy rather than the reverse. Beijing’s abiding anti-Americanism — its conviction that the United States is determined to prevent China’s rise — shapes every priority in the Five-Year Plan. The plan’s recommendations, published by the Global Times in October 2025, explicitly frame the international environment as one of rising unilateralism, threatening hegemonism and intensifying major-power competition. This is not a neutral description of global affairs. It is a call to arms.
Seven Strategic Priorities, One Strategic Goal
The 15th FYP organises its geopolitical ambitions across several interlocking areas. Political purity inside the CCP is the first priority — ensuring that party members reject Western values and embrace “core socialist values” as defined by Xi. Security, defined as inseparable from development, comes next, with an emphasis on building resilience against foreign sanctions and eliminating dependencies on hostile powers. Industrial modernisation follows, focused on making Chinese supply chains impervious to disruption. Then comes technology self-reliance — achieving dominance in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and the industries of the future without needing American components or expertise.
Military-Civilian Fusion Is Now Open
One of the most significant signals in the 15th FYP is the return of explicit language around military-civilian fusion — the integration of commercial technology development with military capability. After years of playing down this agenda following concerns from Western governments, the CCP has abandoned subtlety. The plan calls for faster development of strategic military capabilities and explicit alignment between economic productivity and combat readiness. This is the infrastructure of a state preparing for the possibility of war.
Creating Dependencies, Avoiding Them
The plan’s logic is not merely defensive. While China works to eliminate its own dependencies on the West, it is simultaneously deepening other countries’ dependencies on China. Rare earth processing, solar panels, electric vehicles, telecommunications equipment — in each of these sectors, Chinese state-backed companies have achieved dominance that gives Beijing significant leverage over any country that challenges its interests. The International Institute for Strategic Studies has documented how this leverage operates in practice, noting that in a conflict scenario, China’s dominance of critical supply chains could allow it to disrupt adversaries’ infrastructure without firing a single shot.
What This Means for Hong Kong and the World
Hong Kong is the clearest example of what happens when the world underestimates CCP intentions. Analysts who argued that engagement would moderate Beijing’s behaviour were proven catastrophically wrong. The 2020 National Security Law shattered what remained of the One Country, Two Systems framework. The 2021 electoral overhaul ensured that no voice critical of Beijing could reach the Legislative Council. And today, the city that was once Asia’s freest is governed under rules that would be familiar to any subject of the CCP’s mainland system. The 15th Five-Year Plan tells us where this logic leads if unchecked. Free and open countries need to read it not as economic analysis but as a strategic warning — and respond accordingly.
Mei Ling Chan
Education & Social Policy Journalist, Apple Daily UK
Contact: meiling.chan@appledaily.uk
Mei Ling Chan is an education and social policy journalist specializing in school systems, youth development, and public policy impacts on families. She trained at a top-tier Chinese journalism institution, where she focused on policy reporting, data interpretation, and media ethics, building a strong analytical foundation.
Her professional experience includes reporting for Apple Daily and other liberal Chinese publications, producing coverage on education reform, student movements, social welfare programs, and inequality in access to public services. Mei Ling’s reporting combines document analysis with interviews involving educators, students, and policy experts.
She has worked in fast-paced newsroom environments while maintaining high standards for accuracy and context. Her stories are known for precise attribution, careful interpretation of policy language, and avoidance of speculation.
Mei Ling’s authority is rooted in subject-matter expertise and consistent publication within reputable news organizations. She follows established editorial review and correction procedures, reinforcing reader trust.
At Apple Daily UK, Mei Ling Chan delivers fact-based reporting that helps readers understand complex policy issues through clear, verified, and responsible journalism.
